Dark Side
Raelynn Lupin had an amazing father-daughter relationship with her dad. While some people struggled with their parents. She had been thrilled when she found out he would be teaching at Hogwarts, knowing that she would have support whenever she needed it. The full moon hadn't been great for them but she hoped he was feeling well enough to teach.
"Good afternoon." he said after clearing his throat. "Would you please put all your books back in your bags - today will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands."
"What do you think we're doing?" Cho whispered to Raelynn.
"Not a clue." Raelynn replied,"But dad said that it was something we should have done last year but didn't...for obvious reasons."
"Right then," Professor Lupin said, when everyone was ready, "if you'd all follow me."
Professor led the intrigued class down an empty corridor and around a corner. Unfortunately, Peeves the Poltergeist was there, stuffing the nearest keyhole with chewing gum. It took him awhile to notice Professor Lupin and the class of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, but when he did, he broke into song.
"Loony, loopy Lupin," Peeves sang, "loony, loopy Lupin, loony, loopy Lupin - back again!"
"Hello Peeves," Professor Lupin replied.
The class eventually made their way to the staffroom door, all having taken a liking to Professor Lupin. Raelynn hoped so anyway. The professor opened the door and held it open for the class, and one by one, they filed into the staff room.
"Now, then." Professor Lupin said, , walking up to a wardrobe at the end of the room. As he approached, it gave an abrupt wobble, and a few students jumped back in alarm. "Nothing to worry about, there's a Boggart in there. You should have done these last year but you didn't."
Most didn't seem convinced that the Boggart wasn't worrisome; it didn't seem pleasant.
"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces." Professor Lupin explained. "Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks - I've even met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. This one moved in yesterday afternoon, and I asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice. So, the first question we must ask ourselves is what is a Boggart?"
Paige raised her hand , and Professor Lupin nodded towards her with a smile.
"It's a shape-shifter." she stated. "It turns into the thing that scares you."
"Couldn't have put it better myself." Professor Lupin praised, "So, the Boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a Boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears. This means that we have a huge advantage over the Boggart. Have you spotted it?"
Cho raised her hand.
"There are too many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?"
"Precisely!" Professor Lupin said,"It's always best to have company when you're dealing with a Boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug? I once saw a Boggart make that very mistake - tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening. Now, the charm that repels a Boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes a Boggart is laughter. What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing."
The class went on to practice Boggarts. No one had very intense fears, just things you would normally be scared of. Raelynn made sure to be at the end of the line so the lesson ended befroe it could get to her. She knew what she was scared of; the moon...what that meant for her.
After class, Raelynn made her way back to the Ravenclaw common room to find her half-brother. She likes to make sure Miles was okay after the summer. While he had a good relationship with his parents, Raelynn was always convinced that her mother, Elizabeth, was going to turn around one day and become a monster.
Maybe she was still annoyed that her mother abandoned her as a baby.
Miles was all rainbows either. Raelynn had to put in work to maintain a sibling bond with him. Miles could be quite harsh with his words and for the first year of finding out they were related, the selwyn didn't want anything to do with his half-sister. Miles was in the same year as Harry so the siblings had only known about each other for three years.
"Miles," Raelynn called when she found him by the bookshelf,"Hey."
"Sister," Miles replied smoothly, turning the page.
"Still refusing to make friends?" Raelynn hummed.
"No," Miles answered,"I'm just not desperate. Besides, I'm rather good friends with Terry Boot."
"Hmm," Raelynn hummed. "How was summer?"
"The same as always, Raelynn," Miles commented, irritated, "Mother told me to do better in school, father told me to make more Slytherin friends. I spent the summer reading and being forced to befriend Draco Malfoy."
Raelynn whistled,"Well,at least you get a friend."
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Finding out that Draco Malfoy had been 'injured' by a Hippogriff was no surprise to Raelynn. She thought he was very dramatic over the matter but Skylar was convinced that her cousin was actually injured.
"I'm just saying, he's kind of overreacting," Juliette commented.
The group had congregated on the seventh floor corridor. Not many people went there unless it was lesson time so they found it the best spot.
"Eitherway, he had to go to the hospital wing," Skylar replied with a huff,"He was in pain, Jules."
"He shouldn't have gone up to a hippogriff without bowing," Paige commented with knowledge.
"Okay, miss 'outstanding' grades," Skylar rolled her eyes,"Can we talk about something else?"
"How about the fake that we need to make a plan for our plan," Raelynn suggested, "If you are really going to become animagi with or without my help, I'm not going to let you get killed."
"Great," Skylar clapped happily, "What do we do?"
"I can get us mandrake leaves," said Paige,"But we need to learn how to do the patronus charm."
"I can help you master that," Raelynn said confidently.
"We'll do it," said Juliette with a grin,"Teamwork."